THE LOOKOUT | Cartaxo Chamber pays compensation in the case of missing bones from the cemetery

Vicente Vasconcelos, son of Levi Vasconcelos whose bones took 10 years to be recovered

The case took ten years to be resolved. Levi Vasconcelos’s bones were never recovered and were underneath another body buried in the same grave, in the Cartaxo cemetery.

The Cartaxo Chamber has already paid compensation of ten thousand euros to the family of Levi Vasconcelos for the inconvenience caused in relation to the alleged disappearance of the deceased’s bones, buried in the city’s cemetery. The vice-president of the municipality, Pedro Reis (PSD), gave the information in a council session, where he replaced president João Heitor, who was on vacation. It remains to be made a public apology to the family, which will happen soon. The municipality reached an agreement with Levi Vasconcelos’ family before the Cartaxo Court’s decision.
At issue is the alleged disappearance of the bones of Levi Vasconcelos, who died on September 1, 2004 and was buried in the Cartaxo cemetery. As O MIRANTE had already reported, Vicente Vasconcelos, son of the deceased, was notified, in 2013, that his father’s bones would be raised, but when he arrived at the cemetery, on the scheduled day, he did not find his father’s remains.
A lady had already been buried in the same grave, as there was an indication that the remains of Levi Vasconcelos had already been removed. The Cartaxo Chamber investigated the situation and came to the conclusion that, contrary to what was thought, Levi Vasconcelos’ mortal remains would never have been removed. But as there was a recently buried body on top, exhumation could not be carried out. According to law, a body can only be exhumed three years after burial.
During the process, the municipality asked the Cartaxo Court for exceptional authorization to exhume the body and check whether Levi Vasconcelos’ bones were underneath. The authorization request was rejected by the court. For this reason, the situation was only resolved last year, three years after the burial of the most recent body in the grave, and ten years after Vicente Vasconcelos was notified to remove his father’s remains. The Cartaxo Chamber asked a family member of the buried woman for permission to exhume the body and confirmed that Levi Vasconcelos’ bones were underneath. A failure that now forces the municipality to compensate the family.